A US Army private drinks one of two allotted beers at a dining facility while soldiers gather to watch the Super Bowl XLIII at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

(Newser)
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Alaska lawmaker Bob Lynn wants to lower the drinking age to 18 for active duty soldiers. “If you get shot at, you can have a shot,” he reasons. It's time to bring down our absurd drinking age as mandated in the 1984 Federal Uniform Drinking Act, argues Glenn Harlan Reynolds in the Wall Street Journal. “This is a battle that Republicans—and fair-minded Democrats—in Congress should join."

“Republicans are supposed to stand for limited government, freedom and federalism,” Reynolds argues, “but it was under a Republican administration that states were forced to raise their age limits.” His hope: Maybe today’s Tea Party-infused conservatives have the courage to take on the issue. “If arguments of fairness and principle aren’t enough, perhaps one based on politics will do the trick: This will get votes.” Suddenly, Democrats won't be able to win the youth vote by "portraying Republicans as fuddy-duddies who want to hold young people down."